Texas Democrats watching state GOP’s rifts

Republican delegates to the state party convention in Fort Worth continued for a second day Friday to tussle among themselves over the direction of their party. Some booed the name of Mitt Romney, their presumptive presidential nominee, and a sizable number of convention-goers walked out on House Speaker Joe Straus.

The moves highlighted tension between traditional conservatives and tea party or movement conservatives, even as the GOP celebrated its Texas dominance, legislative accomplishments and unified front against President Barack Obama.

Nearly 300 miles to the southeast, Democrats at the George R. Brown Convention Center spent Friday attending caucus gatherings and tending to party business, but many kept an ear half-cocked to what was happening in Cow Town. To those of a certain age, it brought back memories of their party struggles during the so-called McGovern era, when true believers worked to purge the party of its moderate elements.

“The problem for Republicans, the challenge for them is that they are losing control over their own folks,” San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro said. “They have no control over their party right now. They have no control over their base.”

Although Castro professed to prefer “level-headedness all around” among elected officials of all stripes, he maintained that Republicans were leaving their constituents behind – to Democrats’ benefit.

“They’re leaving everyone behind,” he said. “They’re leaving the business community behind, that knows you have to invest in brain power to be a competitive 21st-century Texas. … And, of course, they’re leaving women behind and Hispanics behind and everyone else. It’s not a question of wishing them to be more extreme; we wish for the exact opposite. It’s a comment on the consequence of what they’re doing that I don’t believe they fully realize.”

Tough audience

Straus, Castro’s fellow San Antonian and a reviled moderate in the eyes of many tea party members for working too closely with Democrats, told reporters before his speech that Republicans must focus on building a positive agenda to avoid losing ground.

Coincidentally, he acknowledged the point that Castro was making about the potential effects of a party’s extremist elements.

“I witnessed, and benefited really, from the demise of the Democratic Party in Texas because they ceded the center,” he said. “They moved so far to the left at the national level that it made it easy for Texas Democrats to become Republicans.”

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, whose name was booed a day earlier when Gov. Rick Perry touted him, rallied Friday with his own speech that hit many applause lines. There were some shouts for tea party-backed Ted Cruz in the early going, but they quickly were shushed.

Dewhurst is engaged in a fierce runoff battle for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate with Cruz, and the unusual occurrence of a convention before runoffs are decided has heightened tensions.

Straus had a tougher audience at the convention, where Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, has set up a booth and is handing out stickers touting his plans to challenge Straus for House leadership in 2013.

Platforms to come

The speaker got applause, but there also were some calls of “oust Straus” during his speech, and there was a walkout by a large number of convention-goers who left the arena individually but gathered outside to chant “Oust Straus.”

“We’re upset that Straus is not a conservative, and he’s not by any means our candidate,” said delegate John R. Marler of Georgetown. “He has granted to Democrats key committee positions that should never have gone to anybody but Republicans.”

Asked about the boos for others before his own speech, Straus said, “I think it’s disappointing when our party’s leaders or even those who are contenders to be party leaders are booed, but there are no flags for unsportsmanlike conduct at political conventions.”

The boos for Romney came during a speech by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who accused the Democrats of trying to sow dissension among Republicans over Romney.

Both conventions wrap up on Saturday with passage of party platforms and, for the Democrats, the election of a new party chairman.